Who is Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei CFO arrested in Vancouver?

Before her dramatic arrest in Canada, few in the U.S. had heard of Meng Wanzhou. The 46-year-old chief financial officer of Chinese telecom company Huawei now faces extradition to the U.S., where she is likely to be charged with trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. She appeared in a Vancouver court Friday to seek bail. The founder’s daughter Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese military engineer worth $3.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine. She’s likely his heir apparent. While personal details are scant, she is married and has a son and a daughter, Huawei said. Meng, who takes her last name from her mother, received a master’s degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhun, China, and started in a low-level position at Huawei in 1993 when she in her 20s. That was about six years after the company was founded to sell phone switches. Since then, Huawei has grown into the world’s biggest supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies. The company also makes smartphones and has been the second-leading seller for two consecutive quarters, behind Samsung and ahead of Apple, according to IDC. (Apple tends to be strongest in the current, holiday quarter.) Meng has risen in the ranks as the company has grown. She held a variety of finance and accounting roles, including CFO of Huawei Hong Kong and president of the accounting management department, before taking on her current roles. According to a company bio,… [Read full story]